We are familiar with the astrological division of Mercurial forces between the Air of Gemini and the Earth of Virgo, which together form Mercury’s rulerships.
What is far less commonly recognized, however (and not always consciously understood) is that the Mercurial planetary function is a highly “evolutionary” function that shifts significantly across the different stages of life…
Mercury is, by nature, a profoundly “chameleon-like” planet.
It is traditionally described as “neutral”, non-gendered, neither Anima nor Animus, neither Shadow.
In truth, it “takes on the color of its surroundings”.
Its expression can therefore unfold in very different ways, both according to its intrinsic planetary qualities within the birth chart, and according to the native’s age.
Whenever Mercurial energies are recurrent, whether in the birth chart or through predictive activations, this implies, at one level or another, the activation of one of the following processes.
From birth to adolescence: learning
The very first Mercurial function to come into play from birth, from the earliest years of life, is its learning function.
This is a cumulative and inclusive function, whose aim is, by every possible means, to acquire as much knowledge as possible, primarily with the intention of later being able to make use of it, and above all to become as “adapted to one’s environment” as possible.
The means of acquisition are of little importance : logic, empiricism, rationality, intuition, intellect, whether through formal education or self-directed learning, depending, of course, on the planet’s elemental energies.
This capacity for cognition and discrimination is absolutely fundamental, both in the structuring of personality and in the structuring of society as we know it.
Without cognition and discrimination, neither individuality nor social organization can exist.
It is based on everything that is “accumulated” during this phase of learning (and not only during childhood, incidentally) that the other Mercurial functions can later be layered on top, like additional strata…
Learning is, in truth, a “permanent” function, one that never truly ends in absolute terms.
What matters most, the fundamental purpose of this function, is the ability to produce the best possible adaptation, in real time, to environmental changes…
This is what has allowed humanity to survive since the dawn of time, regardless of the many threats and calamities encountered throughout history.
More than “pure intelligence”, on psychological, sociological, and anthropological levels, it is truly the “capacity for adaptation” that matters most !
All learning ultimately aims to maximize this capacity above all else…
From adolescence and throughout life: exchange
Following this initial Mercurial function of learning, which positions the personality in relation to the world, comes the second Mercurial function, which enables human beings to interact with the external world: communication.
This represents the continuation of the “use of acquired knowledge”.
Here, knowledge is employed to effect change, to influence one’s environment and others.
If learning largely corresponds to a “receptive” phase, this stage requires the addition of an “emissive” phase: information is received, but we also interact, ask questions, express opinions, and so on.
If learning and knowledge acquisitions have been sufficiently rich and diverse, exchange is generally facilitated at this stage.
There must be some “substance” to communicate, nothingness cannot be exchanged.
This is the realm of the “mind”: intellect, words, speech, the handling of ideas, conceptual frameworks.
At the same time, manipulation, deception, and cunning are also born here.
Those well-versed in mythology may wish to study the life of Hermes, the god associated with the planet Mercury.
In the stages of life, the archetypal peak of this communicative phase naturally occurs during adolescence, with its accompanying questions, friendships, sharing, and discovery of both self and other.
What emerges at this time, however, carries significance for the rest of life in terms of potential development.
All the more so in our era, where media and means of communication have expanded as never before in human history !
Access to the internet has been a major revolution, whose full individual and societal consequences we are still struggling to grasp, even today.
The human being of tomorrow will likely need to “manage their own database” tied to their existence, permanently.
“Communicating well” remains a highly complex and demanding art.
Even the greatest communicators, even those for whom it is a profession, regularly make serious mistakes and have often flown too close to the sun in the process…
In my view, if one does not first understand that there are “senders” and “receivers”, all of whom are different, one misses a crucial key to understanding exchanges, one that nonetheless conditions a great deal of what occurs in communication.
There can be no single, universal form of communication that is understood identically by everyone, at all times : this is impossible !
What constitutes “good communication” for one person, or at one time, will not necessarily be so for others.
In Synastry, the energetic differences between birth charts (including interaspects) and the various operative Projections of each individual are particularly illuminating in this regard.
“Social intelligence” is not easily measurable, yet it is of immense importance in human life and within Mercurial expression.
It consists precisely in knowing how to best “surf” these many nuances of exchange, in everyday life and in real time, a challenge that truly spans a lifetime.
When maturity is reached: transmission
Finally, the third phase of Mercurial energy emerges: the notion of “transmission to others”, which is, in reality, a form of sublimation of the previous two stages.
This layer is generally reached when one has not only accumulated knowledge, but also acquired a certain wisdom and maturity.
It requires a “certain age”, and above all a cumulative life experience, one that demands time and cycles, and which nothing can truly replace, regardless of how exceptional a young person’s qualities may be.
Transmission is a form of communication that takes the shape of teaching others.
This is a more directly “emissive” phase, where one returns to others the learning previously received (one’s experience and knowledge) for younger generations, so that a cumulative effect may occur at the generational level, in humanity’s progression, or simply within a logic of sharing and mutual elevation (Each of us, at our own level, has something to pass on from our experience).
For all these reasons, one may legitimately question our current society when observing, for example, the “Greta Thunberg phenomenon”: a very young adolescent, barely pubescent, who has not yet had the time to truly live or prove her value through lived experience, yet who nonetheless lectures political assemblies, parliaments, adults who could be her parents or grandparents, leaders, business executives, heads of families, or media panels.
This reflects far more a symptom of a “sick society”, desperately lacking solid reference points and values, than a genuine indicator of progress.
Adolescence is an age of learning, not of transmission.
Logic dictates that youth learn from their elders, not simply “because they are old”, but because nothing replaces the accumulation of time.
The fact that elders “were here before us” grants them an undeniable advantage in knowledge and experience, an advantage that can never be fully caught up with, and which deserves respect.
When attempts are made to reverse this order, suggesting that an adolescent possesses knowledge and experience to transmit to elders, despite a total lack of lived experience proving otherwise, this rarely serves the true interest of the audience or citizen.
More often, it serves to encourage naïveté, credulity, and manipulation.
This function of “teaching / transmission” represents the sublimation of “learning and communication”, because it requires a powerful synthesis of both. To transmit effectively, one must first have accumulated a great deal, and must also have understood the dynamics of the “social theater” well enough to determine the optimal form of transmission, so as to adapt knowledge to the audience…
This final point is essential: to transmit knowledge is, above all, to know how to adapt it to one’s time, audience, and students, sometimes reformulating, reconceptualizing, modernizing, simplifying, or segmenting it, while finding the right balance between tradition and renewal.
Managing your Mercurial strengths
Thus, behind this seemingly small and often underestimated planet Mercury lies a wealth of deeper and more vital dynamics.
This is why, when I speak of “Mercurial recurrence”, particularly in my analyses, it may involve, at one stage or another, one or another of these functions.
In any case, it is worthwhile to reflect on this framework in relation to your own natal Mercury and personal history :
- Where are you currently situated within these Mercurial phases ? Are you more in a phase of learning, or do you feel a need to share ?
- Are there social fears or wounds expressing themselves and holding you back ?
- Are your Mercurial energies more “actively emissive”, with a strong need for outward expression, or more “passively receptive”, marked by listening skills and imaginative qualities ?
- Beyond Mercury itself, how do Air-element energies express themselves in your birth chart ? (Venus, Uranus)
- At present, within your predictive activations (Progressions, Transits), which of these Mercurial functions is most emphasized ? What can you do to consciously support these forces as effectively as possible, perhaps even moving from one function to another ?
- etc, etc, etc.